For surfing, and based on the boats you listed, I know from experience that these boats throw awesome surf wakes:

MC X30
Tige Z3 and RZ2
Nautique G23

I have no experience with Malibu, so I can't comment. Out of those boats I mentioned, I think it boils down to what you are looking for in a boat, pricing, etc. From a surf perspective, these ones are all good. I never considered Nautique a player in the surf market until I had the chance to surf behind the new G23 last fall, and I was really impressed.

In comparing your options, be aware that people will often have a bias, so you need to read through those biases (if at all possible). Not to say that they have a special interest in a particular brand, but they obviously like their boat based on their needs/wants. I've owned MC (great boats), Tige (great boats), and now just bout a G23, which seems like an awesome boat. But the truth of the matter is, we'd probably be happy with any of them. Centurion also throws an awesome surf wake, so you could add that manufacturer to your list. Good luck in your search.

I am calling BS here. Felt like boat was going to explode - what the heck does that even mean? I have been in all the major brands and none of them have felt like there were going to explode...ever.

I have test driven every major brand discussed here. One test that I like to do is hit a big wave at full speed and see how the boat responds. When I did this In the 2009 VLX the entire boat seemed to sorta flex and everything rattled. Similar tests in Mastercraft , Tige and ski Nautique the boat felt rock solid.. Admittedly it's all subjective but there's a thread on here that shows MC stringers compared to Malibu stringers and it looks like a 2x4 vs an "I" beam.. Does that play into this highly subjective test? I don't know?.. But it was my test and my money so I got to decide if it was legit or not!

Exploding Malibus! Don't you think that is just a little extreme? OK, so we get it, you don't like Malibu's. That's cool, everybody has their preferences. But one of the things that makes people upset is when you run down their $50,000 plus purchase, whether it is a Malibu, a Tige, a Mastercraft or whatever. Maybe that's what you were going for - hey, I can really upset some people if I post that Malibu's explode. Congratulations, maybe you can call your mom and tell her you managed to piss off several people just for the hell of it.

All boats have flex in them. It is what keeps them from exploding. Here is some Mastercraft X-Star flex:

Exploding Malibus! Don't you think that is just a little extreme? OK, so we get it, you don't like Malibu's. That's cool, everybody has their preferences. But one of the things that makes people upset is when you run down their $50,000 plus purchase, whether it is a Malibu, a Tige, a Mastercraft or whatever. Maybe that's what you were going for - hey, I can really upset some people if I post that Malibu's explode. Congratulations, maybe you can call your mom and tell her you managed to piss off several people just for the hell of it.

All boats have flex in them. It is what keeps them from exploding. Here is some Mastercraft X-Star flex:

"What we found on the X30 was that by adding some counter balance weight to the 'non surf side' it added size and push to the overall surf wake. "
Anyone try this with a VLX? I'm thinking this would work, usually I empty the back starboard tank and have a piggyback on the rear port side, this might be giving me too much lean and not enough weight, has anyone tried all tanks full+piggy back+200under seat port side+300bow port side on an 05 VLX?

Exploding Malibus! Don't you think that is just a little extreme? OK, so we get it, you don't like Malibu's. That's cool, everybody has their preferences. But one of the things that makes people upset is when you run down their $50,000 plus purchase, whether it is a Malibu, a Tige, a Mastercraft or whatever. Maybe that's what you were going for - hey, I can really upset some people if I post that Malibu's explode. Congratulations, maybe you can call your mom and tell her you managed to piss off several people just for the hell of it.

All boats have flex in them. It is what keeps them from exploding. Here is some Mastercraft X-Star flex:

I don't know if I'd call that video of the shaking MC a BS post. I'm surprised it's not posted on the main boards. Maybe it's doctored but if true very alarming.

You are only beating a 3 year old dead horse...... That video was posted years ago on every boat forum on planet earth.

From what everyone could find out, Mastercraft had bolted a couple power towers to those boats before the tower was available on a production boat. The boats had originally been set up for 4 point towers, so they didn't have the lateral braces in the mid section of the hull (which is what they use for all 2 point towers).

It was MCs first 2 point tower, and they wanted to show it off before they were installing them in boats. It was probably a bad idea for them to put them on, and then leave them for the monkeys to shake. They should have been introduced on an actual production boat that was made for that tower.

I was certainly one of the many people to go out and try to reproduce it, when the production models came out....... They didnt flex though. They were rock solid.

I just brought home a 2012 Malibu Wakesetter LSV23 that I'll use for wakeboarding 75% and surfing 25%. I snapped this pic during the delivery ride with factory surf preset and 1 750lb sack the port locker.

Not sure how much extra weight was involved there.. but the '13 Xstar I demoed looked NOTHING like that.

According to Zane, the Xstar is a great surf boat. That being said, he also said that it needs to be weighted a bit different than you would usally expect.... compared to the other boats I have had. (#1 tip- Avoid weight ahead of the coffin storage)

I know that he is a MC rep, and he should be trying to sell me the boat, however, my dealer didn't call him to sell me an MC. We called him, to ask if I would be as happy with the Xstar surf wake, as I am with the X25. I was going to order one, or the other.... He had no reason to steer me wrong. He said I would be happier with the Xstar surf wake.

Your earlier posts, in another thread, were the reason that I second guessed it. I took a chance on it. Hopefully I can recreate the wave that Zane is surfing above.... I am sure that it will take some time to get it dialed in.

According to Zane, the Xstar is a great surf boat. That being said, he also said that it needs to be weighted a bit different than you would usally expect.... compared to the other boats I have had. (#1 tip- Avoid weight ahead of the coffin storage)

I know that he is a MC rep, and he should be trying to sell me the boat, however, my dealer didn't call him to sell me an MC. We called him, to ask if I would be as happy with the Xstar surf wake, as I am with the X25. I was going to order one, or the other.... He had no reason to steer me wrong. He said I would be happier with the Xstar surf wake.

Your earlier posts, in another thread, were the reason that I second guessed it. I took a chance on it. Hopefully I can recreate the wave that Zane is surfing above.... I am sure that it will take some time to get it dialed in.

Ryan: You can never tell much from videos, but it looks like in the video you linked that the boat is not weighted, and the speed is too fast to create a good surfable wake. On your X25, do you have surf tabs, and do you weight it evenly and then use the tabs to switch sides? I had always thought that the Mastercraft tabs were for shaping the wake, once you got the boat slammed and leaned. If Mastercraft is now pushing them as something that will allow you to weight the boat evenly and switch sides like the Malibu Surf Gate and the Nautique NSS, they need to get that word out there more, cause they are missing a big marketing opportunity if the tabs will really work like the other two systems.